Surfbird Aphriza virgata

Identification Tips:

• Small, short-legged shorebird
• Short, dark bill is fairly thick with a yellow base to the lower mandible
• Yellow legs
• White wing stripe
• Black subterminal band contrasts with white tail and rump
• Sexes similar
• Juvenile is similar to basic-plumaged adults

Adult alternate:

• Streaked head and back
• Rusty scapulars with black tips
• Black chevrons on white underparts

Adult basic:

• Solid gray upperparts and breast
• White belly with irregular gray streaks
• Juvenile has pale edges to back and wing coverts

Similar species:

Turnstones are also small shorebirds with short bills that inhabit rocky coasts. In basic plumage, turnstones have slimmer bills and different colored legs (blackish in Black and orange/red in Ruddy). In flight, the Surfbird lacks the white patches in the back and inner wings that the turnstones have. Wandering Tattler and Rock Sandpiper have longer, slimmer bills.